Leaving the Past Behind
by BlindedByYourLight
Summary: Sakura had no choice but to leave Konoha. The village held too many painful memories for her to stay there any longer. Moving to the Tea country seemed liked the only way to finally get on with her life. Just as she finally felt like her life had taken a turn for the better a certain someone turns up out of nowhere leaving Sakura's efforts crumbling around her.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer****: I do not own Naruto.**

**This is in fact my first story so I hope you like it. Please let me know if there is anything that doesn't make sense and needs additional info! Also please ignore any typos. I have tried my HARDEST to get rid of every single one. Don't beat me up if you find one ^^ **

**Review! I need to know whether this story is worth writing! Haha, if I get some reviews telling me to carry on with the story I shall post the next chapter and then from then on chapters should come weekly :)**

**Jess xxx**

* * *

**Chapter 1****: BRB – or not.**

It had been a good five years since Sakura Haruno left Konoha. Pushed by her fears of forever being alone in the beautiful village of the hidden Leaf, Sakura left. Konoha bore too many unwanted memories for the young woman. With every minute she spent in that village she felt tiny pieces of her very soul start to fade away. She knew she was being ungrateful. She had many friends, whom loved and cherished her, but something would always be missing. She'd given a part of her away and knew very well she would never get it back. Staying in Konoha did nothing but remind her of her loss and she could no longer bear to be faced by this harsh reality every time she woke up.

So Sakura did some research. She found that a small fishing village down south in the Tea country were facing large natural disasters such as earth quakes and forest fires resulting in hundreds of injured civilians. She discussed the matter with her mentor, Lady Tsunade. Her argument was that she felt that she wasn't using her elite healing powers to the best of abilities here in Konoha. She desperately wanted to help people and potentially enhance her skills further. Sakura knew very well that her mentor would know she was partly lying, but hoped she would be understanding and let her leave none the less.

Tsunade was reluctant at first. More to the fact that she did not want to see her finest disciple leave. She had grown fond of her student and was sad that Sakura could no longer stand to stay in the village no longer. Much to her dismay, Tsunade eventually gave permission for Sakura's departure on the condition that she stay in touch.

Five years later and Sakura had finally found a sort of inner peace. She had been welcomed into the fishing village and was now looked upon as the village's finest medic. The village was extremely poor and in terrible condition from all the earthquakes and forest fires, but Sakura was no longer phased by its looks. She knew that if you walked down to the port at exactly five am you would see the most beautiful sky. A mix of orange and purples so outstanding you would not be able to look away.

"See you tomorrow Sakura!" Waved Akane as she skipped cheerfully out of the hospital.

"Bye!" Sakura called back.

Akane was Sakura's administrative assistant in some sorts. When Sakura started working at the hospital it was clear she was not very good with all the paperwork. Akane had kindly assisted her once and then somehow became her assistant. Sakura was very grateful for the young red-head, hence the name Akane, and often spent time out of work with her.

It was currently seven pm and the night shift staff were starting to show up. Sakura gathered her things, hung up her white lab coat and made her way home. It was about a fifteen minute walk to her little cottage that she had been given for free in thanks for all her help at the hospital.

Instead of going straight home Sakura stopped off at the village port. It was her favourite place in the village. She sat down on the edge of the deck, letting her shortish thin legs dangle down just stopping shy off the water. Looking up at the night sky Sakura couldn't help but let a pang of sadness wash over her. Today was the tenth of October. Naruto's twenty-third birthday. She had sent him a long letter telling him what she was currently up to alongside an expensive kunai in which she had embroided the words _Never give up, hope will forever lead you to where you need to be_.

Saying goodbye to Naruto had been the hardest part of leaving.

_Five years ago…._

_"This place is a bit too fancy for my taste. They don't even serve ramen." Naruto complained._

_Sakura couldn't help but laugh. Despite the huge knot in her stomach and the lump in her throat, Naruto would always be able to make her laugh. _

_She had invited Naruto to a reasonably posh restaurant to give him the news of her departure. She knew there wouldn't be anywhere in the village in which would make the matter easier but she chose this restaurant because Naruto had once suggested eating there._

_Once they had ordered their food they talked about what was going on in their lives. Well, mostly Naruto talked about what was going on in __**his **__life. Sakura enjoyed listening to him go on about how his relationship with Hinata was going well and how he'd been practicing new jutsus. She smiled, mm-ed and ahh-ed all whilst listening attentively. _

_When the food arrived Naruto noticed Sakura was not eating but pushing the contents of her plate around with her chopsticks. She looked deep in thought and slightly troubled._

_"Is there something wrong Sakura?" Naruto asked confused._

_She looked up at him then. Pain embedded in her eyes. Naruto, surprised, grabbed hold of one of her hands from across the table and asked her to please tell him what was wrong. _

_"I've been planning this out for weeks now," Sakura laughed nervously, "Yet I still don't know how to tell you." _

_"Tell me what?" Naruto asked raising a brow._

_"Oh Naruto," Sakura's eyes filled with tears, "I'm leaving."_

_Sakura figured there was no point in beating around the bush but to get straight to the point._

_"Leaving? Where?" Naruto hadn't quite grasped the severity of what was going to happen. _

_Sakura let go of Naruto's hand and dabbed at her eyes with a napkin. She tried her best to give him her best smile. "I'm leaving Konoha for a small village in the Tea country."_

_The silence that followed was unexpected. Naruto retracted into his chair, sadness taking over his once happy demeanour. _

_"I'll come back I promise." Sakura said desperately trying to get him to talk. But even she knew she didn't sound very convincing. _

_"I knew you were unhappy here," He said eventually, "But I didn't realise it was that bad." He smiled sadly._

_"I'm so sorry. I just can't. I feel like I'm suffocating." Sakura dabbed at her eyes once more._

_They didn't talk more about it after that. Naruto changed the subject and tried to carry on conversation normally. Although he looked fine on the outside, Sakura noticed the half-hearted effort he put into finishing his meal. How his smile looked slightly cracked. It was only when Naruto walked Sakura home did he bring it up again._

_"When are you leaving?" He asked as they arrived at Sakura's front door. _

_Sakura decided it would be better to sit as her knees started to wobble slightly. She motioned Naruto to sit next to her on her door step._

_"The day after tomorrow." She said quietly._

_He nodded having expected her departure to be soon. Naruto crossed his arms over his raised knees and looked sideways at his best friend._

_"Is it because of him?" Naruto asked cautiously. _

_Sakura swallowed hard. It wasn't directly Sasuke's fault that she could no longer stay in the village but mainly the memories that he'd left behind. She explained as best she could to Naruto why it was she could no longer stay. Once she had finished he simply nodded again. _

_"I'm gonna miss you." He said laughing, though Sakura knew he was not in the least bit amused._

_It then all became too much for Sakura and she burst into tears grabbing a hold of Naruto and burying her face in his chest. Naruto was quick to wrap his arms around her._

_They stayed that way for a long time. Although Sakura was sure of what she was doing, and was not going to go back now, she found it painfully hard to leave her best friend behind. _

_"It's getting late." Naruto said calmly._

_They stood up. Sakura wiped her eyes and blew her nose. Naruto smiled at her sadly. She hugged him again and then took his face in her hands. _

_"I love you." She said softly. _

_It was true. Sakura did love Naruto. But it just wasn't enough. If she was going to move on from her past she needed to be on her own somewhere far away where the memories wouldn't come crawling back. _

_"I love you too." He replied. Tears forming in his ocean blue eyes._

_The next thing she did was not what she had planned on doing. Even as she kissed him she knew it wasn't fair on Naruto. He was seeing Hinata. But somehow it felt right, it made things feel more final. _

_When they drew apart Naruto smiled genuinely and said, "Well, that was nice."_

_Sakura smiled too. "I'll see you tomorrow."_

_Naruto kissed Sakura on the forehead and left. As Sakura got into bed, she felt like a huge weight had been lifted from her. _

They had stayed in touch of course. Sending letters and gifts for birthdays, Christmas and other occasions. Naruto had informed Sakura three years ago that he was marrying Hinata. Ino somehow became head of her clan and now lead secret ANBU missions. Shino had died of on an illness. (That day, Sakura had gone to the port and whispered a little prayer wishing he rest in peace)

It was much better than nothing. But it still wasn't the same. She wasn't ready to go back yet though. She really liked it where she was at the moment and didn't plan to leave for a long time.


	2. Chapter 2

******Leaving the Past Behind.**

**Chapter 2****: Unexpected**

**Thanks to those who are now following this story! :3 I know the first chapter was a little boring, but hopefully the next few will be a little better.**

**Jess xxxx**

* * *

The next day was Sakura's day off. After eating some fruit for breakfast Sakura took a walk around the village. Smiling and greeting the villagers she had come to love and care for. As she passed a group of young children playing, they ran up to her and clung to her skirt begging her to play with them.

Just another normal day in the friendly fishing village. Sakura laughed and chased after the little children, tickling them once she caught them. The elders of the village sat at their fish stands watching Sakura play with their grandchildren. They smiled and laughed along with her.

"Time out! Time out!" Sakura yelled, holding onto her aching sides from laughing and running around so much.

She went and sat down next to a group of old men who were sitting on wooden crates playing a game of cards. They smiled as she joined them.

"They got so much energy these days." One old man croaked.

"Oh yes. I'm exhausted already." Sakura laughed.

"Would you like a drink Sakura-san?" Called a young woman on her balcony just above where Sakura was sitting.

"Oh yes please!"

Sakura stretched out her arms in front of her. It was common to sit and talk to people you didn't necessarily know in this village. Everyone was open towards one another. Sakura liked this and often stopped to chat with villagers she hadn't met.

An hour later and Sakura was helping the young woman from earlier prepare lunch. She knew the young woman well as she was heavily pregnant and came to the hospital for check-ups. Her name was Kiyomi.

They cooked a huge meal for the crowd that was Kiyomi's family. They chatted whilst they led the table and called everyone for lunch. Kiyomi put on some music and soon her whole house was full. People talking, laughing and some, arguing, filled the house. Sakura loved it.

Later in the evening there was a sort of village party. A few people played fast music on lutes and banged small circular drums whilst people sang along and danced. Sakura had put on her favourite summer dress. It was white and simple and looked lovely on her. She was currently dancing with a fisherman her age named Tadoa. She was laughing and dancing, albeit a little tipsy, but she was truly happy with her new life. Tadoa slipped his hands into hers and spun her around until she felt dizzy and collapsed into his arms.

"Steady there Sakura." He teased.

They both laughed and danced some more. It was nearing one am and the musicians played a slow song. Sakura wrapped her arms around Tadoa's neck and swayed slowly to the music. They smiled at each other. Very slowly Tadoa started to tilt his face closer to hers. Sakura was more than happy for Tadoa to kiss her. She felt lighter than air at that very moment and a lot of affection for Tadoa. Just as she closed her eyes expecting to feel his soft lips on hers, someone shouted her name.

"Sakura-san! There's an emergency at the hospital. We need your help!" A very stressed Akane yelled already pulling her off of Tadoa.

As sad as Sakura was to leave Tadoa she knew her responsibilities were much more important at that moment in time. She shouted a sorry to Tadoa and ran with Akane to the hospital.

On their way Akane explained the situation.

"He just came out of nowhere! It's a miracle he made it to the hospital at all. He has a head wound and lots of internal bleeding." Akane reported.

"What's the head wound like?" Sakura said seriously.

"Not good. Very deep laceration and lots of bleeding."

Things did not sound good at all. When they arrived Sakura rushed to the emergency room, tied her hair up, put on a special coat and latex gloves.

The man had been in a terrible battle. She knew straight away he was a very strong ninja. His face was covered in blood and bruises, an extremely swollen eye and cheek making it hard to distinguish his face. She got to work on the head injury whilst the others tried to control the internal bleeding.

Two hours later the operation was finished. A large bandage covered the man's head injury and he was put on a machine that assisted him to breathe.

"Good work everyone." Sakura said as they walked out of the room.

That night Sakura went to bed exhausted and fell asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow.

The next day Sakura had to be up early. She had the morning shift at the hospital resulting in only having a couple hours sleep. Luckily she was used to sleeping short hours so it wasn't a big problem.

"Morning." She said cheerfully as she walked past villagers.

When Sakura arrived at the hospital she went about checking on the patients in the intensive care unit. Most were recovering well and she was pleased with the results. When she got to the man from last night's cot, she found him sleeping. She didn't think he would be awake for at least another three days. She checked his vitals and took notes of his injuries as of this point after the operation. He didn't look much better, but he wasn't looking any worse either. Sakura took this to be a good sign. Now that the blood had been cleaned off of his face Sakura couldn't help but feel like she recognised the man from somewhere. The swelling of his eye and cheek were still very prominent that she didn't dwell on it further.

For the next few days Sakura was extremely busy with new patients as yet another earth quake hit a town nearby. The hospital was in utter chaos. There wasn't enough room for all the patients. Those with minor injuries were treated straight in the waiting room. Sakura had put in a request for medic tents but was waiting for conformation.

Everybody was stressed and tired. Sakura stayed strong though. She tended to all her patients as best she could. Luckily things calmed down quite quickly as the medic tents came into order. Medics from another town had come to help too which was a relief.

"Akane, what happened to the man with the head wound?" Sakura asked one morning.

"Well," She paused, "Mainly fine. When the earthquake hit we still checked on him. I believe he's awake now but we haven't had a chance to question him yet."

"Right," Sakura said grabbing a pen, "I'll do that now, get it out of the way."

When she got into the room the man was led away from her facing the wall. She picked up his status form and went over how he'd been doing the past few days.

"Do you mind if I open the curtains?" She asked kindly.

A low grunt was all she got in response. She laughed and went to open the curtains.

"So it says here you've been getting headaches, is that correct sir?" She grabbed a chair from nearby and put it next to his cot.

As she sat down the man started shuffling about. Sakura was still looking over his form when suddenly the air in the room felt extremely heavy. Slowly she looked up from the form in her hands and straight into the mysterious dark eyes of no other than Sasuke Uchiha.

For a minute it was as if time stood still. Though Sasuke's face was heavily bruised, the swelling had gone down and Sakura had no doubt that it was him. Her heart started pounding and her throat went dry. All this time. All the progress she'd made to finally be happy again, wasted. The bad dreams, the longing, the depression, they all came rushing back to her. Suddenly all her efforts up until then came crumbling down around her.


	3. Chapter 3

******Leaving the Past Behind**

**Chapter 3****: Old habits die hard**

****Only one person has given me a little clue as to what they think about this story, a little more feedback would be great! I really wanna know what you think :) It's nice n all when you favourite and subscribe, but what do you really think about this story so far? Let me know! :)

Jessxxxxx

* * *

Neither of them said anything. Sakura's eyes had widened in shock but Sasuke didn't show any sign of emotion. Sakura didn't know what to say or do. It felt like a vicious tornado had attacked all her thoughts leaving her mind in an awful mess.

"Yes." Sasuke said eventually. His voice was much deeper than she remembered.

When Sakura didn't respond Sasuke said, "I've been getting headaches."

It was then that Sakura realised that the best way to deal with this was to act as if he were no different to any other patient. She couldn't let him see how much his presence destabilised her.

She cleared her throat and took a deep breath. "On a scale of one to ten, ten being unbearable, how much do they hurt?" She asked trying her best to sound as professional as possible.

"Five." Sakura wrote down some things on his forms. "Are you feeling any other kind of discomfort?"

He looked away from her, "No"

"Great," She said plastering a very fake smile on her face, "Now as our policy here we need some personal details from you."

She stared at the form in front of her, where the personal details had not been filled in. "Can you tell me your name and surname please." She asked shakily.

For a moment he just stared at her. "Sasuke Uchiha." He said.

"Age?"

"Twenty-three"

"Birthday?"

"July twenty-third"

"Do you have any allergies?" She asked not looking at him once.

"No." He said sighing.

"How did you acquire your injuries?" With this question Sakura could not help but look at him. Her heart fluttered at the sight of him.

"I got into an accident." He said flatly.

She knew that was a lie but did not think it was worth pressing the matter. His lack of emotion and recognition towards Sakura was shocking. It was as if he really could not care less that he had not seen her for over ten years. She felt horribly angry and absolutely did not want to be in the same room as him anymore.

After jotting down a few other things on his form Sakura stood up. "Your release date is estimated at least three months. Your head injury is serious and needs to be kept an eye on. You should refrain from walking for another week. You will be given painkillers when needed. And," She couldn't think of a way to finalise the whole thing. It was nice seeing you? "Let me know if your headaches get worse."

Sakura didn't wait for anything Sasuke might have had to say, though she strongly believed he was not going to say anything anyway. Sakura ignored whoever it was that called her name and headed straight to the toilets. She locked herself in a cubicle and tried not to punch something. She couldn't let this happen now. She had come all this way to avoid feeling this way. Three months he had to stay. She would have to stay strong until then. But then what? He would just leave all over again? Sakura felt so confused and was furious that he had this effect on her.

Later that night Sakura asked Tadoa to come to her cottage. She wanted a distraction. She felt so desperate to forget all about Sasuke and what his presence did to her that she needed to feel wanted by someone. She knew she was being stupid and reckless but for once in her life she didn't care.

When Tadoa arrived Sakura got out a bottle of saké and served two cups. Tadoa looked her up and down as she did so. She had put on a short flowery skirt and white tank top. Showing more skin than usual.

"Drink?" She said sweetly handing him the cup.

Soon one bottle of saké turned into another and neither of them were able to hold a coherent conversation. They were sitting on Sakura's old green sofa when she climbed onto Tadoa's lap and kissed him on the mouth. She needed his touch. She needed him to make her feel like she was the only woman on the planet. With every kiss and caress Sakura forgot about everything that happened earlier on in the day. She refused to acknowledge Sasuke. All her fears and troubles travelled through her body and into each kiss. She was being taken over by the moment and could not think about anything else. Every part of her was on fire.

The next day Tadoa had to get up early to go fishing. Though Sakura was awake she pretended to be asleep as he kissed her on the cheek and left. She felt horrible. With a sigh she got out of bed and headed to her bathroom where she took some headaches pills and a shower. As the hot water cascaded down her body Sakura could not help but wish that all her problems could just wash away with it. It didn't take her long to realise that last night was a mistake. She had done it out of desperation. She knew now that sleeping with Tadoa would be consequential. Pushing these thoughts away, Sakura finished showering and walked down to a vast field about a mile out from the village.

She made a clone of herself and started to fight her clone. Every inch of anger she felt went into the fight. Sasuke was a traitor and an asshole. Why should she care that he's back? She didn't owe him anything. He owed _her _everything. Everything she had done for him in the past that he had so obviously ignore. No, she was not going to let his sudden appearance affect her in the slightest. She was _done_ with him. So be it if she was his doctor. She would cure him and that would be it. So what if he left after that and she would never see him again? She had more important people she cared about.

_Thwack._

Sakura sent her clone flying into the air causing it to explode into a puff of smoke. Breathing heavily, Sakura led down on the soft grass and stared up into the blue sky and smiled. She was fine. She was going to be okay.

A sudden fit of laughter washed over her. Her body trembled and ached as she clutched her stomach. When the fit subsided Sakura scanned the area hoping no one had seen her.

On her way back to the village Tadoa came up to Sakura.

"Hey." He said smiling.

"Hey." Sakura said forcing a smile.

"Are you busy later?" He asked.

No she wasn't. "Yeah I've got some things to do at the hospital. Sorry."

Sakura didn't feel comfortable lying but wasn't feeling up for Tadoa's company again either.

He looked disappointed. "Ah okay. Well see you around I guess."

Sakura smiled as best she could. "See you."

She made a mental note to apologise next time she saw him. The thing was, as much as she told herself that she didn't care that Sasuke had mysteriously turned up out of nowhere, it still plagued her mind that she was his doctor. She would have to interact with him often and she was worried that he'd drive her insane. _Stop it_, she thought, _He's nothing special_.

That afternoon, when she went to check on him, Sakura had prepared herself to be neutral, to forget everything that had happened in the past. It didn't take long for her plan to fail.

"Did you kill your brother then?" Sakura blurted the moment she saw him.

For the first time since he'd been back Sakura saw his eyes widen a little before a dark glare took over his features.

Although she had absolutely no idea why she'd said it, she was suddenly furious that he had nothing to say to her.

"So you go off to Orichimaru to get power and all that shit and leave all the people who love you without any second thought. At least give us the decency to know whether you achieved your most important goal in life." Sakura could feel a red hot ball of anger take over her insides. She wanted to hit Sasuke so badly.

"That's always been your problem Sakura. You always let your emotions take over." Sasuke said coldly.

Sakura laughed, "At least I have emotions Sasuke. I don't betray the ones that love me by leaving without saying goodbye and then trying to kill them when they come after me."

"Really?" He asked still glaring, "Then what are you doing here Sakura?" He motioned around the room, "Why aren't you in Konoha with the ones that supposedly love you so much?"

When Sakura didn't say anything Sasuke smirked, "See, we're not so different in the end."

Sakura was so angry and frustrated she couldn't help but feel like crying. Though she made sure not to in front of Sasuke.

"No, Sasuke. Maybe we're not so different." She said softly before leaving.

The next few days after that Sakura went about cleaning his head wound without saying a word. Who was she kidding. She was a complete mess since he'd come back. The best thing to do was just to wait until he left so that she could get on with her life again.

Of course it didn't take long for Akane to pick up on Sakura's sudden change of mood. Sakura had been avoiding the girl as best she could but Akane managed to corner her in the toilets one day.

"There's no avoiding me any longer Sakura," Akane said a stern look on her face, "Now tell me what's wrong."

Sakura sighed. What harm could it do after all. Akane was a kind woman and deserved to know what was wrong.

"I'm sorry. It's just been really hard lately." Sakura said.

"Go on." Akane pushed.

"It's Sasuke. I know him," Sakura looked down at her hands, "He was my teammate back when I was a genin. But one day he left and never came back. Seeing him now only brings back bad memories."

"You loved him didn't you?" Akane asked softly.

Sakura swallowed. "I still do."


	4. Chapter 4

**Leaving the Past Behind**

**Chapter 4****: Fire**

****Thank you to those that reviewed :3 I acquired some very helpful criticism so thank you! Enjoy this chapter :)

* * *

"Well,I think we should go out tonight." Akane said.

"Okay." Sakura agreed.

Akane ended up taking Sakura to a friendly bar where she explained further about her past with Sasuke.

"He sounds… troubled." Akane said once Sakura had finished explaining.

Sakura shifted on her seat, she felt embarrassed with what she was going to say next.

"I slept with someone the other night too."

"Really? Who?" Akane asked surprised.

"His name's Tadoa. I feel terrible for using him like I did." Sakura took another sip of her drink.

Akane took a minute to respond before calmly saying, "If you put yourself in his situation, what would you want from you?"

"I'd probably want to kick me." Sakura laughed despite herself.

Akane laughed too, "I think you should just tell him the truth. That you were desperate for some kind of affection and he was there to give it to you."

Sakura nodded. "You know what the worst thing is though?" She asked.

Akane gave her a questioning look.

"I still find it hard to be completely angry with Sasuke because of what his brother did to him. But it's also horribly frustrating with how ungrateful he was towards us when we tried to help."

"Of course, it's obviously a very complicated situation." Akane gave a sympathetic smile.

"Anyway," Sakura began, "Enough of Sasuke. Let's have some fun."

Sakura and Akane then spent the next hour dancing to the bar's music. It was fun and Sakura was grateful for her friend's company. She regretted not talking to her sooner.

The next morning Sakura received a letter from Naruto. It read:

_Dear Sakura_

_Thanks for the present, I really appreciate it! Glad to hear that you're doing well. _

_I write this letter having just been informed that Hinata is pregnant! I'm gonna be a dad Sakura. I'm so excited! Also Lady Tsunade is planning on retiring soon. I've been trying to stay on her good side for a while now. I hope she recommends me to be Hokage, I feel ready. _

The rest of the letter consisted mainly of news in Konoha.

_Anything exciting happen lately?_

_ I miss you Sakura._

_Love,_

_Naruto._

Sakura didn't know whether to tell Naruto about Sasuke or not. She was afraid Naruto would get hurt. Sasuke hadn't changed, and it was obvious he wasn't going to anytime soon. It looked as if Sasuke was too far gone to rescue now. She put the letter away, not sure how she would reply.

It happened when Sakura and Akane were having a nice lunch in a small restaurant not too far from the hospital.

"Can you smell burning?" Akane asked wrinkling her nose.

Sakura sniffed the air, "Yeah I can. I wonder what it is."

It was ten minutes later that the smell of burning became extremely over powering and the two began to worry.

"Come on, something is definitely burning." Sakura said shoving some bills on the table and running towards the smell.

Much to Akane and Sakura's horror the smoke they could just see over the top of the village's buildings led to the hospital. They weren't the only ones to notice though, a group of villagers started to run with them.

As they neared the hospital a handful of nurses and doctors were trying to bring the wounded out of the now blazing hot building. For a second Sakura could only stare in shock. The fire was much too powerful for anybody in this village to put out.

"Right!," Sakura shouted, "We need medics to wait out here ready to treat the patients that will be brought out! You," She pointed to a group of people who were staring in shock, "Go get water."

With that said Sakura rushed into the burning building, pulling her top over her mouth to help prevent breathing in the smoke. Flames were everywhere. She ran past a series of rooms that were already destroyed and tried not to think about any people that might have still been in the room at the time.

A few medics ran past her carrying what looked like unconscious patients. Within minutes Sakura was sweating. She helped another medic break down the door to the children's unit. Unfortunately the very young had not been able to pull through. Sakura helped carry out some of the children then ran back inside.

"Sakura," A medic shouted, "We can't get through to the intensive care unit!"

Sakura, high on adrenaline at this point channelled a reasonable amount of chakra into her right fist and punched the door that led to the intensive care unit. The door shattered, leaving little cuts on Sakura's arms. Ignoring the small stings, Sakura started to help bring out the patients. By this point Sakura had started to cough.

She burst through the last door, Sasuke's door, and found him lying unconscious on the floor. He had most likely been asleep, inhaling a lot of smoke, and when he had tried to get up his head injury must have caused him to fall. (Sakura ignored the pang of worry the fall might have done to his already fragile head) Luckily Sakura was strong enough to drape one of his arms around her shoulders and then lift him up. He seemed to stir and mumble but stayed unconscious.

It took the last of Sakura's energy to drag Sasuke, and herself, out of the hospital. Just in time too, seconds after they walked out of the burning building a large explosion knocked the remains of the hospital to the ground.

Many were screaming and crying. Medic tents had been put up once more and Sakura tried her best to get Sasuke onto a cot before her legs gave way. Just as she lay him down his eyes fluttered open. Sakura managed a small smile before everything went black.

When Sakura woke she was overcome by a painful fit of coughing. When her chest calmed down Sakura was able to take in her surroundings. She was led on a cot in a medic tent. Next to her, Sasuke stared at her, his expression unreadable.

Sakura ignored him and swung her legs over the side of the cot. She knew it was a mistake as soon as she'd moved. A nasty cloud of dizziness took over her senses leaving her feeling tired and nauseous. Before she knew it she started to sway towards the ground again but at the last minute managed to right herself up. But not before noticing Sasuke's outstretched arm.

"I'm fine." She said surprised.

"You don't look fine." There was nothing nice, or sympathetic about the way he said it. Just pure fact.

"It's not every day you run in and out of a burning building trying to save people." Sakura said coldly.

With this he seemed to shut up. He looked away from her, as if embarrassed she had saved his life. She didn't expect any thanks or any kind of gratitude from the man and she knew it was because his pride was larger than his brain. Annoyed by his selfishness Sakura stormed out of the tent.

The sight of the burnt down hospital, now only a pile of useless rubble brought Sakura to tears. Akane, her left arm in a sling, rushed over to her.

"How long was I out for?" She asked, her voice hoarse.

"About a day. You feinted around three yesterday afternoon. It's five pm now."

Sakura nodded, not once taking her eyes of the sad remains of the hospital.

"You did everything you could Sakura." Akane said softly before wrapping her good arm around Sakura's shoulders.

Sakura swallowed. It was useless crying over things now. She had people to heal, and so she wiped her eyes and gave a weak smile to Akane in thanks.

Akane led Sakura to the tent full of patients with the worst injuries and they got to work straight away. Six hours later and Sakura was completely drained of chakra and reluctantly decided to call it a day.

Before she went home she went to see Sasuke. As much as she didn't want to see him, she was worried about his head injury.

She was surprised to see he wasn't asleep. Instead he was staring up at the ceiling looking terribly bored. Sakura took some pleasure in seeing him unhappy.

He didn't look at her though she knew very well he knew she was there. With a sigh Sakura asked him to sit up.

"Someone cleaned the wound already today." He said blankly.

Sakura ignored him, "How are your headaches?"

"Seven." He answered just as blankly.

For a minute Sakura closed her eyes and willed herself not to get frustrated with him. After a few seconds she asked him if he had any other symptoms.

"No."

"You're fine. It's just a result in the fall you took the night of the fire." Sakura's voice involuntarily cracked on the last word.

Sasuke gave a curt nod to show he understood. With another sigh Sakura started to leave when Sasuke suddenly drew in a sharp breath and grimaced in pain. Despite how much she disliked him her medical instincts took over.

"Is it your head?" She asked encouraging him to lie down.

He managed a croaky "Yes."

Sakura groaned. She was exhausted and had little chakra left. She ran outside and asked someone for some painkillers. Unfortunately, medicine was being rationed as the village now only had a scarily thin supply. It took a good ten minutes for her to acquire one measly pill. When she got back to the tent she made Sasuke swallow it and proceeded to examine his head injury once more. She was starting to worry that the stress of the fire may have caused his injury to reopen and bleed. Luckily it hadn't.

After a minute of contemplation whilst Sasuke started to recover Sakura came up with a plan. She did not like it and she was very sure Sasuke would not like it either but it would be for the best.

"I can't leave you here." She said once Sasuke had stopped grimacing.

Sasuke furrowed his brow, "Why not?"

Sakura couldn't help but sigh yet again, "Your head injury is far too complicated for the medics here. Unfortunately I am the only medic here capable of taking care of it in the case something bad happens."

Sasuke rubbed his eyes tiredly, "And so what do you propose?" He asked annoyed.

With his tone of voice Sakura was very close to just giving up and potentially leaving him there to die but her more rational side got the better of her.

"I'm not proposing anything. I'm _telling _you that you are going to have to stay at my house for the next few nights so I can keep an eye on your head." Sakura said this harshly all the while pointing a finger in his face.

Sasuke scowled. It was obvious that he did not like being in the situation that he was in but Sakura was going to take him home with her whether she had to drag him there or not.

"And trust me," She continued, "I do not want you in my house as much as you don't want to be there. Your life is at stake and as a medic; it is of my duty to heal you. I don't care who you are. But," Again she jabbed a finger in his direction, "_You_ chose to stumble into _my _hospital. So now you are going to have to live with the consequences."

By the end of her little speech Sakura was panting. Her face was red with anger and her hands were shaking. Sasuke didn't seem to be particularly surprised with her reaction but it definitely wasn't what he had expected.

"Fine." He said not looking at her.

Sakura decided then, head injury or not, that she was not going to be nice. She had given up so much for Sasuke in the past. She deserved to see him suffer just a little bit.

"Wait here." She said harshly before going off to find a wheelchair.

When she got back and Sasuke saw the wheelchair, his reaction was exactly what she had been expecting.

"I can walk fine." He shot a disgusted look at the wheelchair.

Sakura gave him the sweetest smile she could muster, "I know. But protocol says I have to."

Reluctantly, Sasuke slowly climbed off the cot and sat in the chair. Sakura thoroughly enjoyed the sudden power she had over the young man.

When they finally got to the cottage Sakura set up her bed for Sasuke. As evil as she wanted to be towards the dark haired traitor, she knew he was far too big to sleep on her couch and her only other option was to put him in her bed.

When she was done she went into her kitchen/dining room/living room all in one and joined Sasuke at her small circular dining table.

"The bathroom is there," She said pointing to the very small bathroom that she owned, "I don't care when you like to shower but I need it free in the evenings."

Sakura got up then and served herself a glass of water, she made a point in not asking Sasuke if he would like a drink but then thought better of it because of his stupid injury.

"Are you thirsty?" She asked flatly.

He shook his head. Sakura shrugged and sat back down. It was getting late. The sudden reality of the past few days played over in her mind and Sakura found herself staring at her glass, a pained expression on her face. Many people had died. It then occurred to her that maybe someone had an idea of how the fire started.

"Thanks." Sasuke said quietly.

"What?" Sakura asked, still stuck in her daydream.

"For getting me out of the hospital."

How he managed to stay cold and uncaring whilst thanking her she would never know.

"Go to bed now Sasuke." Was all Sakura could muster as she leaned into her crossed arms on the table. Concealing her face and view of Sasuke.

Quietly she heard him make his way to her room where the door shut with a small click.

Silently she sobbed. She wanted to hate Sasuke, she wanted to hurt him so bad but even as she did act harsh towards him, she felt no pleasure in it.


	5. Chapter 5

**Leaving the Past Behind**

**Chapter 5****: ****A new Beginning**

Thank you to all those who favourited and subscribed to LEaving the Past Behind :) Please enjoy this chapter and let me know what you think :)

* * *

The next morning Sakura made her way to the medic tents with Sasuke (Sans wheelchair this time) where she sat him in a tent by himself then got to work.

Because of the number of patients that didn't survive the fire, there were only about a dozen critically injured and then another twenty that carried mild injuries. Sakura got to work on the critically injured. It was hard, and terribly exhausting. Driven by her anger towards Sasuke, and her passion for healing people, Sakura pulled through. She had to. If not, she was afraid that she might have fallen into a never ending abyss of darkness where she'd be tormented by her inner demons and drown in her regrets. Instead she concentrated on the flow of her chakra and the special medical jutsus to save those who were dying.

Over the next two days Sakura realised how easy it was to "live" with Sasuke. She didn't mind sleeping on her sofa and they didn't really talk much. It was like their silent rule not to discuss the past. Sakura knew the contents would just about break her completely and that Sasuke had absolutely no interest in discussing it with her even if she did have the courage to bring it up. She cleaned his head wound, made dinner for both of them and they watched TV together. Things weren't as awkward as she'd imagined they'd be. It was as if the things she had already said (Shouted) to him had somehow rendered her empty of any kind of expectations she had of him. She had given up on him without realising.

On the morning of Sasuke's third day living at Sakura's, he collapsed in her very small kitchen. Sakura suddenly felt more worry towards the man than she had felt towards him since he'd showed up. She had no idea why she felt this way but ignored it and tried to see what was wrong with him.

He'd been completely fine up until then. Sakura did a quick check on him. She looked at his pupils and felt his heart rate. Nothing seemed unusual. Suddenly she noticed the thick dark red seeping into the bandage that covered his head wound. Sakura ignored the fact that it was far too dangerous to drag him to the medic tents. By the time she'd manage to get him there, it would be too late. So instead she shoved a pile of tea-towels under his head, trying to stop the bleeding, and ran into her bedroom where she found her first aid kit.

Holding the towels over the wound, Sakura channelled her chakra forwards trying to stop the blood. With a sigh of relief when it finally stopped, Sakura stitched the wound back together. When Sakura had finished, she was surprised to let out a breath she hadn't realised that she had been holding.

As carefully as she could, Sakura placed Sasuke in her bed. Deciding it too risky to leave him by himself, Sakura got word out to the medics that she wouldn't be coming today. Going over the patients Sakura knew that needed treatment today, led her to the conclusion that there was not a case too complex that would need her to be there for the day.

She looked over at Sasuke's sleeping form. His head wound was severe. Who did that to him? Why did that person do it? Questions Sakura knew Sasuke would not answer. As she watched him carefully as he slept Sakura could not help the tugging at her heartstrings. She knew she hated him. She knew he'd wronged her so many times. But Sakura also knew that Sasuke had been through _so _much as a child. Things he should have not had to go through. Especially not alone.

"I'm sorry." She murmured softly, brushing the hair out of his eyes.

Silently Sakura got up and closed her bedroom door behind her. She decided she would do some long overdue housework and got to work on mopping her kitchen floor. After dusting, scrubbing, rinsing and spraying Sakura sat down on her sofa with a sigh.

Staying at home sure was boring. After eating some lunch Sakura went to check on Sasuke. She was surprised to find him awake. He watched her come over and sit opposite him on her bed.

"How are you feeling?" She asked, worry etched all over her face.

Sasuke sat up slowly. "What happened?" His voice was very low and quiet.

"You past out this morning and your head injury re-opened." Sakura said.

Sasuke rubbed his eyes tiredly and Sakura felt she was suddenly not wanted. When she got up to leave though, Sasuke asked her, "Why did you save me Sakura?"

His question was so unexpected and so _stupid_. Sakura didn't say or do anything for a minute, too shocked that he'd ask her something so obvious.

"It's what I do Sasuke." She managed to say eventually.

Sasuke nodded, "Why me though?"

For the first time in her life Sakura noticed that Sasuke looked sad. Actually _looked_ sad. Normally Sasuke would never let such an emotion show on his face. It portrayed weakness, and Sasuke had always wanted to be everything but weak.

Sakura, still shocked and more than a little confused, could only manage to whisper, "Because it's you."

Sakura's words were soft, genuine, sincere and loving. Her, in every single way. Sasuke hated this new hurt inside of him. He hated that he spent his whole life striving to kill his brother in order to gain some kind of peace. He hated that that _one_ thing took over his life. He hated that he was wrong, and now he couldn't help reminding himself just how _stupid_ he had been. He would never tell Sakura that though. His pride wouldn't let him. Yet he couldn't fathom why she still cared for him. Yes she saved lives on a daily basis, but he knew she could have easily left him for dead. She still cared about him and he didn't understand the way it made him feel. It was as if everything he had been taught, and taught himself, to stay strong, never show one's weaknesses with emotions, trust no one but yourself, were suddenly not worthy anymore. For the first time in a long time Sasuke was afraid. What was happening to him? Whatever it was, he did not like it at all.

Sakura saw that Sasuke was thinking about something intense. His brow furrowed and his fists clenched so tightly his knuckles blanched. She had no idea what was going on but decided it best to leave the room. As she closed the door she noticed how fast her heart was beating. _What just happened?!_ She thought. None of this made sense.

_Is Sasuke changing? Was that a sign or something? _Sakura shook her head in disbelief. Of course he wasn't changing. It was Sasuke after all. People like Sasuke never change.

Sakura all but jumped out of her skin when there was a knock at the door. _Damn it, _She thought, _When did I become so jumpy?_

Sakura regretted opening the door as soon as she saw the handsome face behind it.

"Tadoa." She said surprised, "What are you doing here?"

For a second Tadoa looked upset but covered it quickly with a warm smile. "I was wondering if we could hang out?"

"I'm sorry Tadoa, but," Sakura felt a wave of shame upon her, "The other night… I was lonely. I needed somebody and…" She didn't have it in her to finish her sentence.

Surprisingly Tadoa's warm smile did not falter. "Oh don't worry about it Sakura. I was lonely too."

Sakura's heart tightened at his blatant lie. "I'm sorry."

"I'll see you around then?" He said, obviously getting the point that Sakura didn't want much more to do with him.

Sakura nodded and said goodbye. Tadoa's eyes darted behind her for a second before he left abruptly. Confused, Sakura shut the door and decided to watch some TV. A few seconds later Sasuke emerged from the bathroom and slowly sat down next to her. She wanted to point out that he should not be moving right now but remembered he was Sasuke Uchiha and would not listen to her.

"Damn it!" She hissed as she realised that Tadoa must have spotted Sasuke. That would explain why he left so angrily.

Sakura leant into the palms of her hands and shook her head (Ignoring Sasuke beside her). Tadoa _so _had the wrong idea about her.

"So how did you get that head injury?" She asked a little later. Sasuke's sudden show of emotion earlier led Sakura to bend their rule of not talking about the past. But only a little bit.

He thought for a long time before he said, "I killed my brother."

Sakura swallowed. She had thought that he had accomplished that goal long ago. She never imagined that it had only been completed recently.

"So what are you going to do now?" She asked quietly, although she was afraid of his answer, she was determined to know anyway.

He stiffened. For a minute Sakura thought he was having a headache but from the sudden anger that burned in his eyes, she realised that wasn't what made Sasuke so tense.

"I don't know." He said through clenched teeth.


	6. Chapter 6

**Leaving the Past Behind**

**Chapter 6****: Regret**

**Thanks as always to everyone who is reading and has reviewed/favorited/subscribed to this story! Let me know what you think of this chapter :)**

* * *

So Sasuke Uchiha didn't know what to do with his life. Sakura felt amused, and was it, annoyed?

"Well, had you not thought this far before?" Sakura asked him.

Sasuke shook his head. Sakura felt a very small ball of anger at the pit of her stomach start to burn. "I'm not surprised. You're so stupid to have had such a goal in the first place."

Sasuke glared at her, "You have no idea what you are talking about Sakura."

Sakura stood up and turned away from him, "No, my family wasn't murdered and I guess I don't know the meaning of proper solitude. But if I had been you, I would have been grateful for the things I _did _have."

With that Sakura went into her bedroom, shutting the door firmly behind her. All her emotions were swimming around her head. She felt angry, sad, happy and confused all at once. How could one man have this kind of effect on someone? Sakura just wanted to block it all out and go back to the way things were before. Hadn't she come here in the first place to get over Sasuke? Sakura knew she needed to stop acting so childish. Sasuke had stopped following the same path as her and Naruto a long time ago and she needed to accept that. Hell, she was pretty sure Naruto already had. What was stopping her?

Suddenly realising all this, Sakura felt like a terrible human being. She probably looked childish and petty in his eyes. That was the last thing she wanted.

Sakura rushed out of her bedroom and placed herself right in front of the TV, blocking Sasuke's view.

"I have something really important to say," Sakura said nervously.

Sasuke stared at her.

"I'm…," Sakura looked down at her feet, "I'm sorry for acting so horribly towards you since you came to the hospital. It's just," To her greatest annoyance she felt her eyes start to sting, "Everything that's happened between us. Back when we were genin? It's hard to forget what you did but it was your choice I guess. It's time I stopped holding that against you. Will you forgive me?"

Sakura knew she would probably cry about this later, now that the harsh memories of Sasuke leaving clouded her mind once again. Right now though, she was determined to show Sasuke that she had changed and was no longer that foolish young girl he knew so long ago. With this new determination in mind, Sakura looked up at Sasuke confidently. A pained look shone in his eyes for a very short moment before he coughed and looked away.

"Sure." He said in his usual low voice.

Sakura smiled and sat down to watch TV next to him. She felt much better and really hoped that Sasuke fully understood the meaning of her words.

Later on, around two AM, Sasuke was woken up to the sound of, what he thought was, Sakura thrashing about in her sleep and crying out randomly. He had trained himself to have his guard up even when he slept but at that moment, Sasuke wished he knew how to turn his guard _off._ For a while he just listened. Although the walls blocked out most of the sound, Sasuke could make out the words; "Please." And "Don't leave me." It dawned on him that she was probably having nightmares about him. He suddenly felt extremely uncomfortable that he was the cause of most of her distress lately. Him and the hospital burning down seemed to have taken its toll on her. She had also saved his life twice since he had showed up, which was horrifying for Sasuke. He did not like owing people and least of all someone like Sakura Haruno.

So he decided to get out of bed and wake Sakura up. He told himself it was because he needed sleep and she was obviously keeping him awake which was a nuisance. Not because he felt weird about her maybe having nightmares about him.

Sasuke didn't know what to expect when he opened the bedroom door and looked over at Sakura. It was dark but Sasuke's eyes could still see fine as he neared the sofa. She was curled into a tiny little ball, her knees almost touching her face. Then she suddenly tensed and cried out something unintelligible. Sasuke furrowed his brow, unsure on how to proceed.

"Sakura." He said and turned on a table lamp.

Her crying and moving about didn't stop. "Sakura." He said louder.

Out of instinct, Sasuke placed his hand on her shoulder and lightly shook her. Sakura's eyes opened wide and Sasuke only just had the time to dodge her chakra filled fist that was aimed towards his face.

The sudden movement made him feel dizzy and he almost fell over. Sakura, realising what she had almost done rushed over to him and asked him if he was all right.

"I'm so sorry." She said shocked, "I wasn't expecting you to be right in my face."

"You were having a nightmare." Sasuke said calmly, the dizziness now fading away.

Sakura looked at him carefully. Did she say anything embarrassing in her sleep? Her face suddenly drained of all colour. Trying to come across as calm and unbothered, Sakura started to re arrange the cushions of the sofa.

"Oh did I?" She said, feigning nonchalance.

"Yes." Sasuke said in a somewhat confused tone.

"Sorry to have disturbed you. It won't happen again." She said climbing back under her soft red blanket.

"Right." Sasuke said before going back to bed himself.

It took him a long time to fall asleep after that. Sasuke was feeling things he'd rather not feel. He couldn't even identify what he was feeling. He just knew it was because of _her_ and he didn't like it one bit.

When Sakura woke up the next day she realised two things. One, it wasn't morning. Two, her bedroom door was wide open and she sensed that Sasuke wasn't in there. After hurriedly getting changed and brushing her teeth Sakura rushed out her front door to run smack into Sasuke's back. With a loud _thud_ Sakura fell straight on her butt.

"Ouch!" She cried out more in embarrassment than from physical pain.

Sasuke turned around and, to Sakura's surprise, held out his hand for her to take. For a minute Sakura just stared at it.

"Are you going to take my hand or not?" Sasuke asked irritated.

Silently Sakura wrapped her fingers around his and felt him tug her to her feet. To say she felt strange would be an understatement. _My hand burns_ she thought.

"Um, your hair." Sasuke said after a few seconds, pointing at her head.

"Oh what?" Sakura asked before suddenly remembering why she had rushed out of her house in the first place. "Never mind my hair! What are you doing?"

That's when Sakura noticed an old beat up football lying at his feet and a bunch of kids a few metres away staring at them both.

"I came out for some air when," He motioned to the kids behind him, "They asked me to be goalie for their game of football."

Sakura noticed the slightest hint of embarrassment in Sasuke's eyes. What was going on with him these days? Sakura was able to read him particularly well compared to when they were younger.

Brushing her latest thoughts away Sakura couldn't help but smile, "Aw Sasuke! That's so kind of you to play with the children."

As Sakura expected, Sasuke would not meet her gaze and found everything around them suddenly very interesting.

"But," Sakura started, her voice stern, "You should be extremely careful. I would advise you not to play sports without someone keeping an eye on you."

At this point Sakura had her hands on her hips and her brow furrowed. Sasuke knew this stance far too well and rolled his eyes. "Give me a break, I'm being careful."

Before Sakura could lecture Sasuke some more she spotted Akane walking in their direction. Leaving Sasuke with a "You better not do anything stupid" look, Sakura went and joined Akane half way.

"Akane! Sorry I don't know what came over me, I didn't mean to sleep in this late." Sakura said feeling embarrassed.

"Hey don't worry about." Akane replied, "We do need your help down at the tents now though, we think there's a virus going around."

Sakura nodded, "If I leave Sasuke here will you check on him every now and then for me?"

Akane agreed she would. Sakura then said goodbye to Sasuke, who didn't really reply, and with Akane they started towards the medic tents.

"I take it it's still unclear on how the fire started?" Sakura asked.

Akane shook her head sadly.

Shortly after Sakura left, Sasuke left the children to go rest inside. He realised he probably shouldn't have played football and was glad that Sakura wasn't around to see that she was right.

Sasuke took off his Lost and Found t-shirt from the hospital and, without paying much attention, threw it in the direction of Sakura's wooden dresser. A low thud sounded as something fell from the dresser. Sighing, Sasuke went to retrieve what had fallen. Placing what he presumed was a bottle of lotion back onto the dresser Sasuke noticed a picture frame that was led face down on the dresser. Not really expecting much, Sasuke put it the right way up. He felt a slight twinge of something as he recognised their Team 7 photo from so long ago. They were so young and innocent back then. It took Sasuke longer than he'd have like to admit to notice the tear that ran down between him and his other old team mates. Sakura must have torn him out then glued him back on. Sasuke ignored yet another twinge of something he couldn't quite pin point and quietly led the photo face down again.

As he lay on Sakura's bed Sasuke couldn't help but think about the pink haired medic. She had grown so much in the time they had been apart. Sasuke would never have guessed that she would have become the person she is today. The same twinge from earlier resurfaced and Sasuke groaned in annoyance.

_This feeling is starting to feel a lot like regret._ Sasuke thought grumpily.


	7. Chapter 7

**Leaving the Past Behind. **

**Chapter 7****: Change**

**I was supposed to post this yesterday but I completely forgot! haha I'm really sorry. Thanks for the reviews again and please enjoy this chapter :).**

* * *

Sakura wasn't surprised to find Sasuke asleep when she got home later that evening. _He over did it_ she mused whilst closing the beige curtains in her bedroom. Before leaving the room though, Sakura looked over at Sasuke's calm sleeping form. His face looked peaceful and of course, extremely handsome. _That _hadn't changed. Feeling an unpleasant tug in her chest, Sakura closed the door quietly and went to her bathroom to shower.

Sensing that Sakura spent one too many minutes looking at him before leaving, Sasuke realised all these things he had been feeling since he'd been reunited with his old team-mate were just too overwhelming. He didn't want to acknowledge them and he didn't want to feel so god damn confused all the time. Staying around Sakura was just too hard. He knew he was just going to re-open old wounds on the poor girl but he was far too selfish to let that stop him. A pang of guilt hit him unexpectedly making him want to cry out in anger. _This is why I need to leave!_ He thought.

Sasuke could hear the sounds of the shower and decided it would have to be now or never. Dressing in a pair of loose fit trousers and a dark jumper, all from the hospital, Sasuke made his way over to the large wooden window. He figured this would be for the best. Being around each other only brought weird feelings and, in Sakura's case, heart ache.

Drawing back the curtains, Sasuke silently opened the window and jumped out stealthily. He had no idea where he would go from here but that was never a problem for Sasuke. He always was better off alone. He was doing Sakura a favour really. With him gone she could pay more attention to her patients.

As Sasuke started walking, it began to rain. Ignoring the cold and his now wet clothes, Sasuke tried to walk as fast as he could without causing any distress to his head wound.

When Sakura got out the shower and changed, she realised she needed something from her dresser. When she found her bedroom empty with the window wide open, Sakura didn't even think about what she was doing as she ran to the window and jumped out.

Sasuke should have expected her to come after him. As he sensed her coming towards him, he cursed that he couldn't have gotten away faster. So he stopped and turned around. Sakura was a few metres away from him dressed only in a large t-shirt and shorts, her feet bare. He expected her to get angry, to scream and shout and maybe even hit him. Instead, she just stood there and stared at him. Neither of them said anything. Her silence made Sasuke feel even guiltier.

"I know what you're thinking." She said finally, "That I'm going to throw a big tantrum and beg you to stay."

Sasuke sore her tremble, from the cold, or him, he didn't know.

"But I'm not." She protested angrily. "I just came to say goodbye."

With that, she turned back towards her little cottage and walked away.

She was right, she had known what he was thinking. He had not expected her to walk away like that. He was expecting a scene and a dramatic goodbye like last time. No, this time was different. Her voice echoed resentment and not desperation. Sasuke didn't know what, whether it was because she was his old team-mate or that she was just maybe, probably, the only person that cared about him still, that made him do what he did next.

"Sakura wait." He called before catching up with her.

Sakura's heart skipped several beats when she heard him call her name. Determined not to show him how much his almost departure had almost broken her, she slowed down but said nothing as he caught up with her.

"I'll stay." He said quietly.

Sakura didn't say anything. As they walked back in silence, the rain soaking them both, Sakura felt a weight lift off of her.

The next few days were slightly weird for Sakura. Between resting, Sasuke would come to the medic tents to help out. He would do the simple, albeit annoying, jobs like taking the rubbish to the village scrapyard and bringing medicine and medical utensils to Sakura when she needed them. She wasn't ungrateful, she appreciated the help very much. It was just so _weird._ He would always stay silent but help her out when she wanted him to. He had always been the selfish type, doing things only that would benefit himself, but not anymore apparently. Sakura had the feeling that something was going on in his head but she didn't know what. One thing was sure though, she didn't trust him.

It was only now that Sasuke was starting to care that he was interested in why Sakura had left Konoha. What was she doing so far from her hometown? As much as he was curious, he didn't want to ask her about it. He felt that by helping her at the medic tents put his unwanted feelings at bay. But never completely. There were always the feelings of guilt and regret. Though he didn't want to admit this out loud, he had decided that he would wipe the slate clean. Get rid of all the bad and start over. He still wasn't sure what had made him decide this but it wasn't without reluctance at first. He may have made his final decision but he still found it hard to stick to sometimes. It was his nature to get out of situations that were unnecessary to him. To not get into something if it didn't benefit himself in some way. Since he'd finally killed his brother it was as if Sasuke's life no longer held any meaning. He was so confused and felt the same solitary feelings he had felt as a young boy (Among many other feelings). But he was _tired_. Fighting back all these feelings and all the things he'd done that he knows now that he shouldn't have. These thoughts exhausted Sasuke to no end. But somehow, being around Sakura made it easier? He couldn't say why, but he was grateful for whatever it was she was subconsciously doing that helped him get through this odd period. Again, he hadn't completely changed though. He was far too proud to tell Sakura of these thoughts and feelings. He didn't think he would ever be able to. But one day, he hoped maybe he would be able to repay her. Maybe.

"You're healing well." Sakura said a few days after Sasuke's almost departure.

Sakura's hands were gently wrapped around the back of Sasuke's neck, holding his head straight so she could examine the wound. Her breath tickled Sasuke as she turned his head from side to side, sending involuntary goose bumps all the way down Sasuke's spine. He felt very tense then, Sakura's hands around his neck, and her breath doing weird things to his body. Clenching his eyes shut, he focused on trying to stay calm. Unexpectedly, Sakura moved her hands down to rest them on his shoulders whilst she still looked at his injury. The movement sent small shocks of electricity throughout his body, _almost_ causing him to sigh.

_What is going on?_ Sasuke thought. He barely recognised his body these days. Feeling all these weird emotions, and now this?

"Okay we're done." Sakura said cheerfully, heading to the sink where she removed her gloves and washed her hands.

"Thanks." He said quietly and headed for the sofa.

Later that night, Sasuke felt that same shock of electricity as Sakura taught him how to cook. She'd been showing him how to dice onions and when he had done it wrong, she placed her hand on his to show him. Again, he had not been expecting it and almost cut his finger off.

"Are you okay?" Sakura asked, confused.

"I'm fine." He said more harshly than he had intended.

They carried on in silence. This time, Sakura took extra care not to touch him. She figured he wasn't used to being touched and that she should probably refrain from doing so in the future. When they had finished cooking and had eaten their food Sasuke insisted on washing up whilst Sakura showered. Grateful for his sudden change of attitude Sakura went to shower.

By the time she was done Sasuke had washed and dried all the dirty dishes and was sat down watching TV.

"Thank you for that." She said as she sat down next to him.

"Can I ask you something?" Sasuke asked, avoiding her gaze.

"Sure." She replied.

"Why did you leave Konoha?" He asked after a moment's hesitation.

Sakura sighed. She hadn't expected him to ask her that. Considering their current fragile relationship, Sakura decided she would lie.

"I came here on a mission. I liked it so much that I decided to stay." She hoped that he would not notice her fake smile.

"Right." He said, dropping the subject.

Sasuke knew she was lying. For some reason this made him angry and again Sasuke found himself wondering just what was his mind doing to him. He wished that her lie hadn't made him feel this way. Normally this sort of thing wouldn't have bothered him. Now he was more curious than ever to learn why she had left Konoha. But he kept his mouth shut, not sure on how to confront her. It would be awkward and he couldn't deal with that right then. Instead, he said goodnight and went to bed.

Sakura breathed a sigh of relief when Sasuke went to bed. She worried that he might have asked her more questions and she wouldn't have known how to answer them. She tried not to lie in most situations if she could help it, she would only lie if it was completely necessary.

After giving it much thought Sakura came to the conclusion that Sasuke was better off not knowing. He would only think she was weak if he knew. She didn't want that and so she would not tell him.

Suddenly Sakura felt her eyes begin to sting and a familiar pain in her chest. Deciding it better to go outside Sakura sat on the step that led to her front door. She missed Naruto and the old Sasuke. She missed Kakashi and being team 7. She just wanted it all back.


End file.
